Hey y’all!

First things first, this entire post is a SPOILER. If you haven’t watched the most recent episode of Scandal, or haven’t started the series at all but intend to at some juncture, it is with a heavy heart that I say, stop reading. 

I’ve decided that my first character spotlight must be cast on Olivia Pope. Kerry, if you’re reading this its too late… Lol. I’m not holding back on dishing deserved dirt on your alter ego, no matter how much I love and admire you as a woman. Please forgive me :*

For those of who despise scandal or are yet to begin, I’ll give you a brief rundown of who Olivia is, and her contradictory philosophies.

Olivia Carolyn Pope, born September 16 1979 to Eli Pope (otherwise known as Rowan and Command of the secret intelligence organisation, B-613) and Marie Wallace (a terrorist whom Olivia believed to have been killed in a plane crash) is a political scandal ‘fixer’ who runs her own firm – Olivia Pope & Associates (OPA). She was formerly the White House Communications Director, and an aid on the campaign trail of Fitzgerald Grant III when he first ran for president in 2010. Olivia attended Georgetown Law, and a number of other prestigious schools in her youth, and is renowned for her brilliance in developing sound politician coverups. Oh, and lest I forget the most important aspect of Liv’s character, she is the mistress to the President of the United States of America.

Off a resume like this, I expect Olivia to be a mess. A hot mess, infact. With a terrorist for a mother, and a trained assassin who lied to her her entire life for a father, I’m surprised she still walks the streets of Washington D.C with her head held high. I can’t imagine that I would have turned out even half as well as she did if I had her life – and for that, I applaud Liv. 

Beyond that, and her pristine fashion sense which I will detail in a later post, Olivia is THE most annoying character to hit screens. I’m proud of Kerry because she has manages to make sure I’m in awe of her 6 days a week, and despise her (via Olivia) on Thursdays at 9pm Eastern time. 

Why does Olivia frustrate me? I’ll explain. 

To begin with, she has this really awkward lip tremor. Whenever she stands before her lover, and he barks (or whispers, but to be honest he hardly speaks quietly) his sweet nothings at her, she trembles in the most awkward way – lips first. I know this might seem a bit pedantic but if you think it can’t be that bad, search google using the phrase ‘Olivia Pope lip tremor.’ I can almost say with 100 percent certainty that there will be pictures and videos, and they will irritate you too. 

On to more prominent fatalities in Olivia’s character – she’s the true definition of Jekyll and Hyde. I have never seen a more conflicted personality in my life. On the one hand, Liv and her staff at OPA (whom she calls gladiators) proclaim that they wear the ‘white hat’. By that, they mean that they are a force for good, and not evil; for right, and not wrong. This belief couldn’t be further from the truth! Over the course of four long seasons, we have seen her staff (and by extension, Liv herself) lie, cheat, burgle and manipulate their way into evidence lock ups, people’s homes, and private information stored electronically and in hard copy. 

We have also seen Liv threaten people into telling the truth (like is that really the right way), and help some devious policitians cover up their wrongdoings. While I must admit that she does try to make sure her guilty clients pay for what they have done, she favoured the likes of Sally Langston (Fitz’s former Vice President who killed her husband), and condoned the misdeeds of her own friends and employees. 

If all that isn’t wearing the dark hat, I don’t know what is. Oddly however, I see in Liv the intrinsic will and desire to be good; to do the right thing and protect the innocent. It’s there! She actually has a conscience, and that’s more than I can say for many fictional characters today. I think Liv struggles with the awful things she does to protect her lover and his presidency, but she really can’t help it. I can relate to her feelings because she loves him unreservedly – and no one really knows how to prosecute the people they love or watch them suffer. However, I wish she would try to explain herself to us more, instead of claiming to be so much about doing the proper thing. It just makes me lose trust in her.

One thing I cannot take away from Liv is just how good she is at her job. Her mind works in the most beautiful way when there is a problem to solve, and I’m always so impressed with the pride she takes in fixing other people’s problems. Here’s my issue though – she cannot even fix her own! Most of us face this dilemma on a daily basis – we are the go to people when our friends need advice, but when we have a problem, it seems like all the advice we would give to others is beyond our reach. It’s so weird right? I know. 

I admire the strength that Liv shows from episode to episode. Imagine living her life; I’ve already told you how much of a train wreck her family life is, and how her boyfriend is the married President of her country. She also has no friends, apart from her gladiators, and her ex lover Jake Ballard who she left for the president. She carries the world’s problems on her shoulders because it is her job at work, and she can’t even escape it all at home because her man does the exact same thing – that is all they talk about! That is a lot for a person to handle, so kudos to Liv on that front. 

What I really wish she would handle better is her relationship with men. When it comes to Fitz, she becomes completed unrecognizable, and honestly I become entirely ashamed of her. I don’t know if Liv will ever realize that Mr president isn’t the right man for her on so many fronts – he has turned this educated, intelligent and beautiful woman into America’s mistress. And she let him do it. He has turned her into murderer and a liar, and even an election fixer. All in the name of love. I don’t know everything, but I know God didn’t create love to be that dire or that hard. In my opinion, you should never trade in your core values for love. Never. 

I remember the one episode that really left me heartbroken for Liv on this Fitz issue – the one where they were at an event and he took her into what looked like a supply room the size of a broom cupboard, slept with her, and walked out like she was a call girl. I vaguely remember him saying something rude, but I don’t remember what. In my opinion that should have been the final straw, but I guess some women have a greater threshold for bullshit (excuse my French) than others.  

On last week’s episode though, Olivia showed some of her strength in the context of her relationship- for once! She said no to a shotgun wedding and perjury, regardless of what it might cost her. Just when I though she might really be wearing that white hat she frequently speaks of, she gave her criminal father a way out of prison in exchange for his assistance in saving her and her lover from the mess they had created. Talk about going from a lesser evil to a greater one. 

I really wonder when Liv is going to be held accountable for everything she’s done. I doubt the show would have a storyline of that happened, so I guess Shonda is hesitant to go in that direction. In any case, it would be interesting to see. 

P.S – Did anyone notice how she asked Jake  if she should marry Fitz? She’s so selfish sometimes. It’s really unattractive. Anyway, that story will make for its own post, so I’ll save that for later. 

Hope you enjoyed reading! 

Love,

Jo 😘